50 years ago… yet the “Dream” lives on

“I Have a Dream”, 50 years ago on Wednesday the 28 of August Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. marched the streets of Washington D.C and gave the most inspiring and encouraging speech a man could give. This one speech was so compassionate that it gave hope to all African Americans across the world.
Dr. King was honored by many outstanding and inspirational men and women that are making a difference in the black community every day such as President Obama, former president Clinton, former president Jimmy Carter, former NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, and Rev. Al Sharpton. There were also performances by choirs and the Winans brothers.
“Rededicate ourselves to ensuring equality for every American,” said Eric Cantor. This celebration was not just for the great Dr. Martin L. King but it was getting CEO’s, Representatives, and Presidents to come and encourage not just the African American community but every American to ensure equality. And wanted to make everyone aware that the fight for equality is still going on and we as Americans need to be willing to go out and confront segregation and tell it we are better than that and can push for a more equal world.
“And yet they chose a different path. In the face of hatred, they prayed for their tormentors. In the face of violence, they stood up and sat in with the moral force of nonviolence.” President Obama said it right, people like you and I can make our mark in history by simply doing our part. Martin Luther King and all the other people who started the civil rights movement were ordinary people who cared about what was becoming of the time society they lived in and made a change for the better.
This day isn’t just to celebrate Dr. King’s great speech but to encourage the people of today to make a change and that the obstacles that Rosa Parks, Dr. King, and even the Little Rock Nine faced. Although these problems aren’t as clearly pointed out as it was then but there are many things that lay behind the picture we as Americans paint ourselves as. And those things in the background like racism, equality, proliferation of guns, stand-your-ground laws, a Supreme Court ruling striking down parts of the Voting Rights Act, and high rates of joblessness among minorities, and even stereotypes are factors that hold back us as Americans from our full potential.
President Barrack Obama based his campaign on “change”. We want the world to change and to be a better place for everyone. But first ask yourself, are you like everyone else and living how the world wants you to be and are being comfortable with who you are? Or are you willing to stand up to the stereotypes and racism that goes on today in 2013 and fight like Martin Luther King did for something that you believe in. We can’t make change unless we change ourselves first.
“The good news is, just as was true in 1963, we now have a choice.” – Pres. Obama